Gravity conveyer for cartons with bottom adhesive appliers



June 17, 1952 M. c, FAUST GRAVITY CONVEYER FOR CARTONS WITH BOTTOM ADHESIVE APPLIERS Original Filed April 1, 1947 -2 SHEETSSHEET l A T T OR/VE Y 44. 6/5

June 17, 1952 M. c. FAUST GRAVITY CONVEYER FOR CARTON-S WITH BOTTOM ADHESIVE APPLIERS Original Filed April 1, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Rm Y m C M m? N" T ,0 A

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Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES Continuation. of application: Serial- No. 738,580}...

April I,, I947. This application August. 13,1951,

Serial No. 241,584

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a gravity conveyor system. More particularly, it relates to-a gravity conveyor system comprised of'several component units having portions readily replaceable by a gluing mechanism.

This application is a continuation of 'my co= pending application, S. N. 738,580, filed April 1, 1947 and entitled Gravity Conveyor, and nowabandoned.

It is common commercial practice to convey:

cartons or boxes from the production line to freight cars for shipment by means of a portable gravity conveyor. The conveyor is usually'composed 'of a series of standard conveyor units or 'feet in length and varying from l2to 18. inches in width. The units may be straightor curved,

so that the conveyor may be extended intothe freight car in as close proximity as possible to the point of' loading, so asto eliminate unnecessary handling of the boxes or car-tons. As the loading of the'car progresses-the end unitsof the conveyor are removed.

Products packed'in glass jars or bottles are susceptible toconsiderable breakage if the freight. car is humped during: transit. Even though the products maybe packed in tin containers. if the car is roughly handled in transit, many ofthe this are dented or marred-seriously detracting from their sales appeal when" they are displayed for sale.

It hasbeenproposed to apply a ribbon of glue to the bottom of the cartonsor boxes as they leave the conveyor line, the glue being intended to bind the cartons together and reduce the damage during shipment. It is obviously most desirable to position the gluing mechanism near the end of the conveyor, the usual practice being to locate it at the entrance to the freight car, thus necessitating the manual carrying of the cartons for conslderable distances into the car. This materially increased th labor and time involved in loading a car.

Briefly, my invention comprises a gravity conveyor system comprising a series of conveyor units, each of the units being detachably secured to the preceding unit. The terminating unit has a removable gluing mechanism horizontally installed therein, each of the preceding conveyor units hav ing a horizontally removable roller section. These sections are adapted to be readily replaced by the gluing mechanism.

Therefore, the primary object of my invention is to provide a gravity conveyor employing a gluing mechanism in conjunction therewith, which may b employed at close proximity to the load ing point.

It is afurther object ofmyin'vention-to provide a gravity conveyor whereby the gluingmechanism': can be positioned at theend of the conveyor line' and readily interchangeable with a removable' roller section as the detachable conveyor units are progressively removed from theconveyorline.

Another object of my invention i to provide s gravity conveyor having removable horizontal roller sections installed in each unit, whichcanbereadily interchanged with agluing mechanism: and which is simple to operate and inmrpen'sive:v to manufacture.

These and other objects and advantages will: appear'more fully in connection with the accom-- panying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 -isa top plan Vi8W- of a straight unit'of the gravity conveyor with the horizontal. roller section' removed.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of aremovabl hori zontal roll'er section.

Fig; 3 is a top plan view-of thegluing mechanismwhich may be positioned in the-conveyor unit of Fig. 1.

Fig; 4 is a perspective view, partially broken away, of another embodimentof a straightunit of a gravity-'conveyorwith the horizontal section removed, but positioned directly above the opening into which it fits.

Fig. 5is a perspective view of the gluing mechanism;

Fig: 6 is a top plan view'of a curvedunit, par= tiallybroken away, with the gluing mechanism in operating position. I

Fig. 7'is a top plan'view of .a removable horizontal roller section which may be interchanged for the gluing mechanism shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a series of conveyor units extending into a freight car, the terminating unit having the gluing mechanism installed therein, each of the preceding units having a horizontal removable roller section installed therein.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring especially to Fig. 1, it will be seen that one embodiment of a gravity conveyor unit has a plurality of rollers Ill positioned on axles l l, which are permanently supported by side rails l2. The rollers I0 are preferably high grade, selfaligning ball-bearing wheels, which are free-run ning and which are grease-packed, when assembled, for permanent lubrication. If desired, however, the rollers or wheels Id may be replaced by elongated tubular-shaped rollers (not shown). The number of wheels l0 per square foot may be varied. Generally, in a 12 inch wide conveyor the number of rollers or wheels will vary from 8 to 12, and in an 18 inch wide conveyor, from 12 to 18. The axles ll may be welded to the side rails [2, but if preferred they may be threaded and inserted in holes in the side rails l2 and secured thereto by means of nuts (not shown) The side rails may be straight or (as shown in Fig. 6) curved and are preferably of high carbon-formed steel, but may be made of other metal. The ends of the side rails [2 may terminate in hooks I3, so as to form a coupling when attached to the rod l4. If desired, a plurality of bar supports I may be used to strengthen the conveyor,

In Fig. 2 there is illustrated a removable roller section [6, wherein a plurality of wheels I0 are positioned on axles I I, and the axles are afiixed to angle supports IT. The angle supports are so shaped as to fit over and be supported by the side rails l2 when the removable roller section is positioned in the conveyor.

The gluing mechanism I8 is composed of ayessel 19 in which a plurality of distributing wheels 20 are carried by an axle 2|. The axle 2| is affixed to the sides 22 of the vessel IS. A cover 23 is positioned on the vessel I9 and i provided with a plurality of openings 24 for the wheels 20 and an opening 25 for chargin glue into the vessel. The cover 23 extends over the sides 22 to form a support when positioned on the side rails l2 of the conveyor. If desired, the wheels 20 may be positioned in whichever of the openings 24 desired.

In operation, referring to Fig. 8, a series of conveyor units, detachably fastened together, extend from the production line to the inside of the freight car. In the last, or terminating unit 26, the gluing mechanism 18 is installed. In each of the preceding units, extending from the entrance of the freight car, a removable horizontal roller section I6 is positioned. As the loading of the freight car progresses, the end unit of the conveyor is detached and the gluing mechanism 18 removed from that unit and substituted for the removable roller section I6 in the unit 21. As loading of the car continues, the gluing mechanism l8 will be removed from the unit 21 and used to replace the removable roller section in the conveyor unit 28. This operation is continued until the car is fully loaded.

Thus by constructing the conveyor unit with a removable roller section 16, each adapted to receive the gluing mechanism I8, I have facilitated the gluing operation at the point of loading. Many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the principle, breadth and spirit thereof, and it is to be understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof, except as encompassed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A gravity conveyor comprising a series of conveyor units, each of said units being detachably secured to the preceding unit, the terminating unit of said series having a removable gluing mechanism horizontally installed therein, each of the preceding conveyor units having a horizontal removable roller section installed therein, each of said removable roller sections adapted to be readily replaced by said gluin mechanism.

2. A gravity conveyor comprising a series of conveyor units, each of said units being detachably secured to the preceding unit, the terminating unit of said series having a removable gluin mechanism horizontally installed therein, said gluing mechanism consisting of glue-containing vessel, an axle permanently aflixed to the sides of said vessel and carrying a plurality of gluedistributing Wheels, the lower portion of the periphery of said wheels contacting the glue in said vessel, each of the preceding conveyor units having a horizontal removable roller section installed therein, each of said removable roller sections adapted to be readily replaced by said gluing mechanism.

3. A gravity conveyor comprising a series of conveyor units, each of said units being detachably secured to the preceding unit and consitsing of a plurality of rollers permanently positioned between side rails, the terminating unit of said series having a removable gluing mechanism horizontally installed therein, said gluin mechanism consisting of a glue-containing vessel, an axle permanently afiixed to the sides of said vessel and carrying a plurality of glue-distributing wheels, the lower portion of the periphery of said wheels contacting the glue in said vessel, the upper portion of the periphery of said Wheels positioned above the longitudinal plane of said side rails, each of the units preceding said terminating unit having a horizontal removable roller section installed therein, each of said removable roller sections adapted to be readily replaced by said gluing mechanism.

MORRIS C. FAUST.

No references cited. 

